Since the creation of the Federal Reserve banking system in the United States of America in 1913, the Constitutional, gold- and silver-backed currency has been, for all practical purposes, replaced with federal reserve notes. The latter being an un-backed, flat currency, issuable upon governmental and banking debt, has resulted in a dramatic expansion of the monetary base. This money supply expansion is a tax, commonly known as “inflation”, which brings about price increases throughout the economy and the removal of the precious metal coinage from circulation. This replacement of a sound currency for one of lesser value through governmental action or force is known as Gresham's Law. The net result is the hoarding of the undervalued currency or coinage in favor the overvalued currency by persons who seek to preserve their wealth from losses through the governmentally-imposed inflation tax.
Because inflation has been so regular since the Federal Reserve was first organized, essentially all precious metal coinage and most obsolete coinage has been taken out of circulation and is being held by collectors. Many of these previously circulated coins are now stored in safety deposit boxes or in safes of their owners. Collectors generally enjoy assembling their coins in “sets”. There are generally accepted definitions of which specific coins constitute a given “set”, but the term is subjective and therefore is open to individual interpretation. Over the years, many manufacturers have produced holders that collectors have used to organize and protect their collections. When storing coins, the owners often attempt to keep the coins in holders that allow the owners to quickly identify and evaluate their inventory. These holders come in a variety of configurations but commonly take the form of a series of slots or receptacles on a page or sheet—see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,177,057, 5,150,792, 4,971,192, and 4,425,997. Coin holders also may be placed in a book or in a binder—see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,837,031, 7,347,453, and 6,969,091. Coin holders that secure coins within capsules in a page of a book are available for purchase on the website www.bookofsilver.com. Coin holders may be provided with some sort of indicia at the receptacle for identifying the particular coin placed therein—see, for example, the website at www.lighthouse.us.
Some coins, because of their rarity, condition, or intrinsic value take on extra value in excess of their face value (these coins are known as “numismatic coins”); therefore it is imperative to be able to locate them within the total inventory. Numismatists collect coins for a variety of reasons, including aesthetics, historical significance, as a store of value, and for sentimental or other personal reasons. Conscientious numismatists look for efficient ways to organize and store their collections. Some collectors examine coins in minute detail to determine die variety and assemble collections on that basis. In short, the reasons for establishing a collection, and what the constituent parts of a collection should be, are highly subjective.
A problem with known coin holders that use an indicia to designate or identify the coin is that the indicia is crafted in advance by the manufacturer. The coin collector thus does not have the opportunity to provide coin designations specifically for the coins that they own. When the collector does not have a coin for the receptacle identified by the manufacturer, that spot in the coin holder goes vacant. And if the collector has more coins than those designated by the manufacturer's coin holder, the collector must find another location for the orphan coins or re-label some of the receptacles themselves to provide a properly labeled receptacle where the orphan coin may be kept. Such relabeling by the owner detracts from the cosmetic appearance of the original holder. Another drawback of existing coin holders is that the manufacturer is not able to easily deliver a custom made coin holder to a prospective customer. Each coin owner has a particular inventory of coins that they generally like to store, but the conventional holders available today are unable to rapidly match a holder to that customer's specific coin inventory.